Comfort food "ne plus ultra" -- Oyster stew!

This soup is simple, delicious and soul-warming.

Homey oyster stew

RECIPE: Oyster Stew
(Makes four large servings)

Ingredients:
2 T canola, peanut or olive oil
1 leek, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced
1 large shallot, minced
1/2 gallon (two quarts) milk
One pint shucked oysters, with their liquid
Dash of nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black or white pepper, to taste
Garnishes: a dab of butter, a dash of sherry, and of course oyster crackers at table

Instructions:
Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add leek and shallot and stir-fry until the veggies soften. (You can add other aromatic veggies here if you like, such as finely diced carrots, celery and/or onion, but I think leek and shallot are just about perfect.)
Add milk a cup at a time, stirring. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Keep an eye on the pot to make sure the milk doesn't scorch.
When the milk mixture gets hot -- just below a boil -- add the oysters and their liquor. You might want to pick through the oysters first to make sure there are no pieces of shell.
Stir well, cover again and let cook until the oysters start to curl around the edges.
Add seasonings, then make sure the stew is as hot as you like it. (Again, be careful not to let the bottom of the pan scorch -- use a heavy bottomed pan if you have one to make this easier.)
Add sherry and butter, if you're going to, then ladle into bowls.
Pass the oyster crackers.
Listen to the room go quiet while everyone slurps away...........

Cold weather: Bring on the (healthier) Beef Stew

Beef stew doesn't have to be a no-no for the healthy foodie.

If you emphasize a pot full of delicious, hearty vegetables made even more scrumptious by a judicious amount of high-quality, grass-fed beef, you can enjoy this delightful comfort food without a shred of guilt.

While my family doesn't eat much red meat, for health reasons, a little meat in most diets is not a bad thing. Iron and other minerals are more plentiful in red meat than in any other food.

And while I'm totally against supermarket or fast-food meats for ethical reasons--see "Food, Inc" or read Michael Pollan and others if you don't already know about the horrors of our industrial food system and its treatment of animals--humanely raised and butchered meat is a treat the healthy foodie can allow herself once in a while.

In addition to the traditional beef-stew veggies, this version tastes even better thanks to the inclusion of flavorful porcini mushrooms and leeks.

Recipe: Healthier Beef Stew
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces stew beef in bite-size chunks
• 3 T canola oil
• 2 leeks, rinsed well, white and light green parts only, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 lb new potatoes (red or white), cut into bite-size chunks
• 3 large carrots, cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 large onion, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks (optional)
• 12 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 2 cups hot water for 15 minutes, drained and chopped
• 2 T flour
• Mushroom soaking liquid, strained to remove sand from mushrooms, about 1 1/2 cups
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 3 cups beef stock or beef broth
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1 T dried thyme
• 2 large bay leaves

Instructions:

1.     Heat oil in your largest saucepan or a Dutch oven over medium high heat. When oil begins to sizzle, add beef and cook, stirring, until beef begins to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate or bowl and keep nearby.

2.     Add leeks and garlic to pot, stirring for 1-2 minutes until they begin to soften. Stir in remaining vegetables (potatoes through porcini mushrooms) and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables begin to heat up and start to cook, about 3-4 minutes.

3.     Sprinkle flour over the veggies, stir well, and cook for another 2 minutes.

4.     Return beef to the pot.

5.     Add liquids (mushroom soaking liquid, wine and stock/broth), stirring well.

6.     Cover the pot and bring the mixture to a low boil.

7.     Remove cover, reduce heat to medium and add thyme, salt, pepper and the bay leaves.

8.     Cook for another 30 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are your desired level of tenderness by testing with the point of a knife.

9.     Discard the bay leaves before serving.